Battery Charger

Smartphones are more powerful than ever, but they still have an annoying tendency to run out of juice just when you need them most. The Kickstarter-backed Plan V could get you out of such a fix, as it's a small and light keyring-based device that can be used to charge your smartphone from a 9-volt battery. Read More

It was only a matter of time before the versatility of Lego was put to use in the era of the smartphone. The COI+ Lego Power Brick, a block of Lego which acts as an external battery pack for your phone or tablet, is designed to offer on-the-go charging while adding a little creativity to the mix. Read More

In its travels, portable power system manufacturer Powertraveller says that it's come across the question many times: "Can you make a battery with enough charge to run a laptop all day?" It now has an answer. The silverback-gorilla is its beefiest portable power pack yet. Read More

We're surrounded by electromagnetic fields almost everywhere these days. Just because they're almost imperceptible doesn't mean they can't be used as a source of energy though. One student in Germany recently built the Electromagnetic Harvester, a small box that allegedly charges an AA battery using just the electromagnetic fields given off by the likes of power lines, vehicles and electronic gadgets. Read More

People who are trekking in the wilderness, stranded at disaster sites or living in developing nations all have one thing in common – lack of access to an electrical infrastructure. Solar charging devices such as the Solio, iCharge and Joos Orange have been designed to meet the needs of some or all of these groups. One of the latest such systems, Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies’ Sunbox USB 3.0, is particularly versatile. Read More

Just last month, GoPro introduced the long-awaited LCD screen module for its viewfinder-less HERO HD actioncam. At the time, the company stated that the module was the first in a series of BacPac accessories, designed to extend the capabilities of the 1080p high-def camera. Now, the next of those accessories has been released, in the form of the Battery BacPac. It allows an included 1100mAh lithium-ion battery to be mounted onto the back of the camera (which already has its own identical battery), potentially doubling its run time. Read More

As we demand more and more of our smartphones, the up time between charges suffers. Case in point – the iPhone. Chargers come in all shapes and sizes but few offer to power up the batteries using air, or more precisely – wind. Dutch designer Tjeerd Veenhoven has crafted just such a charger where his favored Apple device slides into the soft rubber outer skin and fan blades capture energy from the wind, which tops up the battery. Read More

The US Army’s Nett Warrior program involves equipping dismounted soldiers with wearable battle tracking electronics in order to increase situational awareness and reaction time and reduce the risk of “friendly fire”-related accidents. One Nett Warrior-equipped Infantry Brigade Combat Team requires a collection of batteries weighing 155 pounds (70 kg) for one 24-hour mission, and could consume the power of 140 batteries per day. That’s a lot of gear, and is the reason why aerospace firm Lockheed Martin first developed the Squad Mission Support System (SMSS) in 2005. An autonomous all-terrain vehicle that can follow troops in the field, the SMSS carries batteries, packs and other gear, and it now also serves as a mobile charging station. Read More

Evatran has unveiled its Plugless Power induction charging solution for electric vehicles. Instead of having to worry about bothersome cables and plug/power compatibility, EV owners using the system will just need to pull up in front of a control tower and the charging process will kick in automatically. And you needn't concern yourself with perfect parking either, the floor-mounted current delivery block is said to take care of all the alignment issues. Read More

Energizer has teamed with XPAL Power for its new “Energi To Go” range and hardly a niche has been left uncatered for, with a portable iPhone shaped charger, solar powered units and even a USB powered charger that connects directly to DSLR batteries. Read More